7 Ways A Poor Mother Can Make Her Child Rich

by with No Comment Money Secrets
4 min read
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

My mother was my first motivation and inspiration to succeed.  Though from a humble background, she taught me to live life always aiming at the sky. She taught me the importance of building relationships with wise people. And when my father totally turned against me majoring in the arts, she recognised my potentials and supported me strongly. During the last holiday I had with my mum, I was writing a book for children and she proudly said, “I am glad I supported your decision back then”. Now I have a budding poetry society and a semi-successful writing career.

– Oyedeji Damilola (Founder, Ariella Poetry Society)

A mother’s mindset is like a mainframe computer that communicates multiple signals to her children and those around her. A child’s possibility to succeed is higher when he(generic) has a mother who supports and pushes her children to success. The first connection a child has to the outer world is his mother. Firstly, he shares space, food and water with her. He gets vitamins needed to grow into a healthy foetus from her. He shares feelings with her and she shares her feelings with him too. This pre-natal connection marks the importance of a mother to a child. In this article, I will be identifying seven ways a mother can make her child RICH!

MINDSET

Primarily, the right mindset is the right way to life. A mother’s way or approach to viewing life is what she passes down to her child. A mother who believes in everyday learning will train her child to see every moment as an opportunity to learn. If she believes in the  cogence of making mistakes and learning from them, she will pass down the value to her child. If a mother is such that remains stuck to archaic ideas, refusing to drop them for new ones, she might be an obstacle to the adventurous spirit in her child(ren). Consequently,  preventing possible future achievements.

IMAGINATION

Also, many wise men have said, “deep thinkers are great thinkers”. Children are naturally imaginative and inquisitive, trying to make sense of the world they have found themselves in. Yet, some mothers try to shun their children and cut them out of their world of imagination. Mothers who are, however, able to encourage deep and creative thinking in their children will succeed in helping to build their child’s imaginative ability. I believe that anything achievable is something that must be first of all imaginable. Alexander Graham Bell did not wake up one day to his telephone invention. It all began with an imagination. Mothers who can build their children’s ability to think give them a great tool in this world of inventions.

MOTIVATION

Furthermore, a mother’s ability to push and motivate her child to Success is invaluable. Pushing and pressuring are two different ideas. Pushing gives room for mistakes however, pressuring leaves the child with no option of failing. A mother, who motivates her child to try new things, pointing out the possibility of failing, pushes him to greatness. Most parents try to tie their children down to a safe space, preventing them from taking new adventures. Parents who do that rid their children of their ability to discover and invent. Popular rapper Kanye West spoke about his mother as the one person who taught him to believe in his “flyness” and also to conquer his shyness. She motivated him to be the voice to allow people to think and find their own way.

SUPPORT SYSTEM

Consequently, a mother who motivates her child becomes a support system. This gives the child the belief that he has his number one cheerleader in her. Gabby Douglas, the renowned artistic gymnast, is the first African American to have won the Olympic all-around champion in 2012. She began her training at age six after her mother enrolled her in gymnastic classes. When Gabby felt the pressure of being separated from her family she wanted to give up. Her mother’s tough love helped her to hold on strongly. It was that year that she won the gold for individual all-around gymnastics.

DISCIPLINE AND FORESIGHT

Ben Carson’s story is another one that strikes deeply. His mother is a definition of love, discipline and foresight. Ben Carson is a renowned paediatric neurosurgeon who was mothered by a single mother with no formal education.  He said, “She was one of God’s greatest blessings to me and it was her foresight and discernment that pushed me to reach my dreams”. Ben lagged behind academically but his mother taught him that it was in his power to change their life’s situation. When she realised how much of TV her children watched, she curbed it by making them read two books  in a week. That regular reading habit was what Ben later said to be the beginning of his fruitful academic career. Ben Carson’s story enlightens us on what a mother’s love and discipline can do to her child.

INTERPERSONAL SKILL

The importance of a great interpersonal relationship skill cannot be over-emphasized. Many children who have poor relations skills are influenced by their family background. Any mother who encourages her child(ren )to communicate feelings and opinion freely and confidently, correcting any form of impertinence, is good. Great relationships are success markers; show me your friends and I will tell you who you are. The ability for mothers to encourage their children to keep good friends is one great boost that every child needs.

Having said all, I want you to note that your mother is a body of wisdom. If you look closely, you will see in her, several values that will help you go a long way in life. Mothers are priceless and they can lure you to great success.  

Five Things My Parents Could Not Tell Me About Money

by with No Comment General ArticleMoney Secrets
3 min read

I’m from a society where I repeatedly heard the proverb; “Train up a child in the way he should go…” It is every parent’s responsibilities to train their child. Of a truth, my parents taught me a lot of things – how to cook, politeness, humility, great communication, and human relations. Even before I knew the institution called “School”, they had drilled me to be the amazing kid they wanted.

But as I grew up, I realized there was one thing I just didn’t get right. And I wouldn’t want you to blame me. Neither did my father who is the breadwinner of the family nor my mother who is the home manager made mention of it. In fact, it was like a taboo if I discussed such topic with them. 

You know how awkward it gets when you ask someone about their sex life, right? That was the exact feel whenever I discussed topics about money with my parents; most especially how much they earn and save. I was literally clueless on money matters.

Ignorance stopped being a bliss for me when I gained admission into the higher institution and had to live by myself. “Pocket money” was never enough, neither did I know how to account for my spending.

When it dawned on me that I have mastered many life’s issues from my parents except money, which is also essential, I sought knowledge. 

And here is what I found out:

Money is beautiful but it doesn’t grow simply by admiring it. 

I had the habit of keeping money when I was younger. I would wrap it up in my closet so that no one would touch it nor rumple it. 

I must have picked this habit from my mother who also kept her money in a knot at the edge of her wrapper, so it wouldn’t get lost. She could keep the money for as long as a month or two, or a year. What she didn’t know was that she could keep the money in a bank for it to accrue interests or invest it, which would bring returns (ROI). She did not know hwo to plant money, to make more money for her. So, she could not teach me, neither did my father.

Money multiplies by investments, just like how seeds multiply by planting. It is not meant to be kept on the table and admired like a meal. This, my parents did not tell me.

Money alone does not bring happiness

Money afforded me all I wanted as a kid – both the necessities and unimportant things of life. I could get all the chocolate, biscuit, sweet, and toys that I craved. So, it was a difficult thing for me to accept that “money doesn’t bring happiness”. 

I thought all I needed to be happy in life, is MONEY. Yes, Money also brings its own share of happiness. With money, you can acquire many good things, live the life of your dreams, and do so much that will make you very happy. However, money alone does not bring happiness. This, my parents could not teach me.

Plan how you want to spend your money – Budgeting

I grew up asking for, receiving and spending money. Little did I know that mindless spending makes one short of money. I spent as I earned and even spent more than I earned, thus I wallowed in debts. I wish my parents had cautioned me when I was younger.

A friend of mine had a journal for recording her income and expenses. She would write all her expenses for the month ahead before she spent any of her money. She as a preference list which she followed religiously. This helped her to effectively monitor, and regulate her spending. This also saved her from reckless spending and debts.

Money Management

Money worries are not meant for adults alone. No child is too small to learn about money; how it is earned with hard work, and most importantly, how to manage and multiply it. 

I shouldn’t have had to become an adult before I know all things are not meant to be bought. If I had been refused several unnecessary things I spent money on when I was a kid, I would have learned to differentiate between needs and wants.

Avoid debts like a plague

Unfortunately, we cannot all avoid debts. Debts can be good, and also unpalatable. Hence, we must tread with caution around it.

Earn more than you borrow so you don’t become saddled with a cliff of debt that is hard to pay off.

In conclusion…

Money respects those who understand it. I learnt this the hard way.

What about you? What were the things your parents did not teach you about money?

Please share them in the comments section below.

usa-1935785_1280

Five Money Mindset Strategies You Need To Master

by with No Comment General ArticleMoney Secrets

3 min readMoney is a subject that is widely taught right from the home to school and even at the religious centres, we have received huge information about money. Information plays an important role in how many people relate to money.

One important thing left out is the ‘Mindset’—because money isn’t the currency in your hands or the cash saved in the bank. Mind you, the world is not having “Mono-Currency”. 

Cultivating a strong and positive mindset about money will impact your life greatly.

 

MONEY MINDSET

A money mindset is an overriding attitude that you have about your finances. This attitude is the core belief you have built over the years from the information you received. 

As the old saying goes, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he”. Have you ever wondered about the reasons behind your financial decisions?

A money mindset is a catalyst that influences how you make significant financial decisions every day. 

When you have the right and positive money mindset, you tend to make better and wise choices even in the face of obstacles. That’s the power of positive thinking, and it matters most if you want to achieve your financial goals in life.

Your understanding of money will determine how much money you make, how hard you toil for it and how long it takes. Perspectives are important and this has to do with your mindset.

 

NEGATIVE MONEY MINDSET

No one makes a decision without initial thoughts. The actions we take reveal the thought process behind the scene—so also is the money mindset. Poor mindset leads to poor action and meaningful progress will not be achieved. 

You are either free or imprisoned by your mindset.

Your actions show your thoughts. 

A negative money mindset is not what you were born with but those beliefs that you have cultivated over time. The negative mindsets are:

  •       Fear—unknown, fear of failure, fear of taking (calculated) risks.
  •       Procrastinations.
  •       Past failures.
  •       Intimidation.
  •       The struggle of overcoming past defeats.
  •       Wrong beliefs.

You aren’t defeated because you failed but rather because of your mindset. 

The obstacles before us are the ones our mindset put there. 

You are what you believe and will act accordingly. 

As long as you keep the negative mindset concerning money, you will work hard but earn little because your mindset is yet to SHIFT to the position that attracts, keeps and multiplies money.

People who have a negative mindset remain poor, not for the lack of opportunities or resources but the blindness of their minds. A blind mind will never see opportunities and will always be ignorant of making money.

MIND SHIFT SURGERY

You can’t become financially free with wrong beliefs—that’s impossible. Everyone struggling with a negative mindset needs surgery—MINDSHIFT. A mind shift is the ability to change one’s thoughts and beliefs.

Changing your mindset will move you from lack, struggles, and poverty into abundance—this is not magic but a deliberate sequence of decisions and actions.

FIVE MONEY MIND SHIFT STRATEGIES YOU NEED TO MASTER

Embracing a positive mindset will help with your financial goals. It will help you overcome many obstacles (debts, and Imprudence) in life. When your mind is so rich it will reflect in your life—decisions, and actions.

Most billionaires aren’t wealthy because they inherited wealth or won the jackpot but trained themselves mentally and physically.

These five mind shift strategies about money:

  1. Learn to train your mind to see opportunities instead of focusing on obstacles.
  2. Recognize that most unpleasant financial situations are temporary and are fixable.
  3. Learn to ask for help. Asking isn’t the sign of your weakness but clarity.
  4. Set your financial goals but learn to take it step-by-step and don’t be ashamed of small progress.
  5. Cultivate the habit of investing.

Keep your mind under strong monitoring as you apply these money principles. 

Image by Steve Buissinne on pixabay.com

Seven (7) Unproductive Money Habits, The One Way Out!

by with No Comment General ArticleMoney Shakers
3 min read

The lives of the rich and famous are often tempting and glamorous. Irresistible; the flashy cars, luxurious life, and expensive outfits that the famous stars often wear. The poor might end up cursing the day they were born but sometimes, the rich are often caught up in the success-web.

Success is the desire of most people (most people hate failure) but not everyone knows how to move on and chase (more) success. Most times, many people are trapped in the cell of success, and their passion and zeal surrender to the most recent success without vision and hunger for more.

Many people were half baked for the success they achieved early in their lives, the fame, and the money was bigger than what they could handle.

As good as success might be, it can also be a huge burden that crushes people if not handled properly. 

Some of the celebrities and athletes that we know went from grace to grass not as a result of laziness but for some untamed habits that shot them down. While some were able to bounce back, others never did.

You must learn to differentiate your seeds from your harvest—seeds produce harvest. 

SEVEN UNPRODUCTIVE MONEY HABITS

Have you seen a successful businessman/woman? Study their habits; perhaps you have seen a poor man, check his habits. Habits are everything—it either makes or mars a person.

The rich do the things that make them rich, while the poor have habits that keep them poor. Below are the seven (7) money habits that make a man poor:

1. Wrong company.

 When a man keeps a company of his sense mates, it may be difficult to make meaningful progress in life. You need a mentor, someone with experience and can provide hindsight & foresight where career and wealth creation is concerned.

2. Inability to invest.

The poor work for money while the rich have money work for them. The rich spend their time looking for the best places/business, to invest their money in a bid to multiply it as time goes on, but the poor hardly save much less invest.

The concept of investing can be best explained from a farmer’s perspective, a farmer will invest (sow the seed) into the earth and get a harvest in return. Lastly, saving doesn’t make you wealthy, investing does.

3. Focus on survival.

The poor are perpetually in “Survival mode”. They acknowledge their needs but they consistently deny themselves by the inability to delay gratification. Moreover, they wallow in self-pity. They hide under escapists’ theories like “all is vanity”. Survive, but more importantly – thrive!

4. Poor money management.

One of the attributes of humans is the ability to manage resources and situations — time, money, problems, success, failures, and.

The poor lack money management skills and will often spend money on wants. The poor are most times unable to differentiate between asset and liability, so they spend more on liabilities than on assets.

5. The poor expect money miracles.

Poor people pray the most, that’s not saying the rich don’t have time for prayers. The expectation of the poor is that miraculous money will drop in their account. Whereas miracles do happen, they are not the foundation upon which wealth creation is built.  Refusal to seek for financial knowledge because one is waiting for miracles is detrimental.

6. Lack of money-making ideas.

One way to make money is “idea”. An idea that solves a problem will make you money and if you are financially intelligent enough- wealthy. You are truly poor only when you lack ideas. Facebook is an idea of Mark; Coca-cola is someone’s idea, Honda automobile is someone’s idea. Great, innovating ideas get you into money.

7. Lack of financial knowledge.

You are only enslaved by what you don’t know. The poor lack the basic knowledge of how to make money and how to make money work for them; thus remaining in poverty. If you know what you don’t know – that is a call to seek knowledge and knowledge is only power when it is applied.

WHAT IS THE WAY OUT?

Discipline.

It may sound simplistic but if something seems simple – it will often require a great deal of attention. Very few people on planet earth are disciplined in their commitment to learning and earning.

Are you disciplined enough to keep working with the principles of wealth creation?

Yes, this is one of the virtues that the rich possess that keeps them on top of their game.

Michelle Obama FI

The One Killer Money Strategy; It Worked For Michelle Obama

by with No Comment General ArticleMoney Secrets

4 min readMichelle Obama can make you very rich if only you would apply the same principle that she applied. She has been screaming one killer money strategy at you since forever. Ever wondered about the first African-American first lady of the United States? Her story is an inspiring one.

Born in January 17, 1964 in Chicago, Illinois, she is an American lawyer who is also marked as the First Lady of the United States in 2009-2017. Although from a humble background, she learnt the importance of education and by age four, both Michelle and her brother Craig had learnt to read.

Gifted Michelle took and completed accelerated biology courses and also learnt to speak French by sixth grade. She attended Princeton University and graduated Cum laude in 1985 with a B.A. in Sociology then proceeded to study law at Harvard Law School. In the early years of her career, she worked at Sidley Austin’s law firm where she met the love of her life, Barack Obama whom she later married in the year 1992.

As a first lady, she was an inspiring model for women and advocated for poverty awareness, education, nutrition, physical activity and healthy eating.

She is a fashion icon and has an admirable love relationship with her husband. With this you might want to say Michelle had a perfect life. However, this is untrue. Growing up, life was not a bed of roses for Michelle.

Her father suffered from multiple sclerosis which had a weighty emotional consequence on her while growing up. She was also a victim of gender discrimination and often feared people’s negative perception of her. She however discarded every form of negativity around her and used it as a growth fuel. In 2018, she published her book Becoming.

Michelle Obama has been a source of inspiration with her known intelligence and activeness.

With her book “Becoming”, she told her story and one can indirectly say she sold her story. Becoming is a book subdivided into three parts; becoming me, becoming us, becoming more.

Michelle describes her book as an expression of deep personal experience which talks about her background, how she found her voice, her advocacies, life in the white house and her role as a mother and wife. Michelle wrapped her story in a sheet of words and sold it to her readers.

 

What are you doing with your own story?

That one money strategy she has utilized and maximized is the ability to tell one’s story. Every experience that you have had and heard in life should teach you something and to be able to tell your story in a compelling way may change your life and the lives of those who read or listen.

This strategy is not customized for Michelle alone but for as many as are willing to bite into its skin. Your life is a story worth a million dollars!

Your failures, success, wars, battles, victories, laughter, tears…can inspire and motivate.

Motivation, by the way, is a business that sells now. With the increasing rate of hopelessness and depression worldwide, people no longer look only to their religion for hope but also seek stories of those who have fought wars and have won them.

So, can you sell your victories to become more victorious?

Can you make a million telling the world about your resounding laughter despite the bitter tears you have shed hitherto?

Yes, you can!

At this point, you must be thinking “well, it will only work for those who have stories, I don’t have a story to tell”. Lie! A big fat one!

Everyone has a story; maybe you mean to say an incomplete one, but the truth is that you have a story to tell.  Your life is a book, every day make up the pages, and every season, new chapters.

While you wait out to have a complete story, you should also realize that even your smallest victory is a story that can inspire someone out there. And every attempt to grow and achieve something bigger or rise above a certain level is an added story to tell, something more to catapult you your worth from a few thousand to some millions.

 

How then can I tell my stories?

You are probably thinking; “I don’t want to be a book writer, I don’t like to write, writing is not my thing”. Am I right?  Let me say these and you should listen or in this case read well. To tell your story is not limited to writing a book.

You do not have to write a book to sell your story. There are several other ways and all you have to do is identify them.

Have you thought of public speaking or the fashion industry and photography also? These mediums are arts that can act as your storyteller.

Have you wondered about some singers and their singing styles? Bob Marley for instance; an advocate for Pan-Africanism whose songs had a high sense of spirituality accompanied by his music style of reggae. He was an advocate for peace, hope and unity in a strife-ridden world.

Music was the key instrument with which Bob Marley used to make the masses aware of the injustices in the world. I could go on and on about how music was a medium of expression to the late musician but that would be switching focus, right?

The point is this; you can tell your stories in several ways that are profitable.

Make a habit of recording and journaling your experiences. Your everyday story might not be a hit but it sure is a gallery of many pictures that will later make up one sweet, inspiring and money spitting image.

You might be young without a complete story yet but you should know that you can tell your story in several profitable ways.  

Don’t fail where most people fail – they fail to start, they fail to try and they fail to continue.

12 words FI

Twelve Words That Locked All Your Money Up

by with No Comment General ArticleMoney Secrets
4 min read

The mind works in unfathomable ways, words are the command of life itself, the command of money too. Not knowing these twelve words that locked all your up isn’t a good thing.

Some years ago I had a light bulb moment, my eyes lit up as I listened intently to the financial intelligence expert who spoke on investments, financial intelligence, and passive income. I was in my 20’s and I had never understood what those words meant and how they impacted my chance of escaping poverty and achieving everything I dreamt of. 

If I didn’t understand those basic money principles, how could I make them work for me? The truth is, most of the principles of financial freedom have been codified into words.

Understanding and making use of these words (codified principles) in our daily decision making is what helps us achieve financial freedom. Let’s talk about some major ones.

Financial Intelligence is one of the phrases that changed my perspective on how money works. Just as you need emotional intelligence to make your relationships thrive, you need financial intelligence to make the right decisions concerning money. There is a right way to think about money – learn it!

One of the major concepts financial intelligence affords you is a basic understanding of TAX. Tax is one of the most mysterious money-words. The rich try to avoid it and the poor have no clue how it works. But just because you don’t know a substance is poisonous doesn’t mean it won’t hurt you. Whether you are self-employed or a businessman, taxation influences your financial freedom in a great way.

Passive Income is a phrase that confuses a lot of financial illiterates. Passive income is often seen as ponzi scheme to some folks and this a great injustice to financial intelligence. Just as you work actively to generate income, passive income is generated when you’ve invested money (into ventures).

Owning one percent (1%) of the shares at Google makes me a billionaire; not because I code or write algorithms but because what I invested will yield ROI (Return on Investment).

Yes, there is no form of business venture or investment that does not have a level of RISK in it. Many people run away from risk without knowing that risk is a part of life.

Mark Zuckerberg said that the greatest risk is not taking any risks. The wisdom here is to take calculated risks.

Partnerships: the backbone of most wealthy individuals is the strategic partnerships that they have other people. Research shows that businesses that were started by two or more people have a higher chance of being successful than that of a sole proprietor.

The goal of having a partner is to complement your skill and personality deficiency. You don’t partner just for partnering sake; you partner because there is something unique that your partner can offer.

BRAND: what if you decide not to enter a partnership, then it is important to develop a very strong brand (read more here -5 Reason You Are Probably Still Poor).

Actually, it’s not only single founders that should develop a brand. Your brand is the projection of who you are and your value. Having Donald Trump’s (before he became President) name on any real estate implies a Gold Standard. You like it or not, that’s what his brand is. The more your brand is worth, the higher the chances of you achieving financial freedom.

VALUE: the more valuable your brand is, the more financial returns it brings to you. Someone told me recently that money responds to value. So instead of chasing money, why not focus on adding value. Mark Zuckerberg is quite wealthy today because of the amount of value he brings. That’s the same reason why some top athletes make considerably more money than their teammates –the extra value they bring to the team.

I was at a conference some years ago, where one of the speakers said that ‘because you are worth something does not mean that people will value you the same way’.

Just because you see yourself as worth something does not mean other people will see you as such.

A process of bridging the gap is NEGOTIATION.

Negotiation has to do with seeing things from the perspective of your business partner and leveraging on that to get whatever you want. The only way you can get what you really deserve is by negotiating for it. Ask Donald Trump why he wrote the book “The Art of the Deal”.

The major key to successful negotiations is COMMUNICATION. Okay.

I can hear someone say “Is it not just about talking or speaking?”

Communication is probably one of the most underrated skills; no wonder the Toastmasters International makes it their focus.

Excellent communication skills are essential to pitch your ideas to investors, to cast your vision to your team. It is practically impossible to influence people without being skillful at communicating.

After communication, MARKETING is probably the next most important word for an individual or a business.

The truth is, we are all selling something. How well you can sell yourself will influence the rate at which you attain financial freedom. It’s not surprising that Fortune 500 companies spend millions of dollars annually as their marketing budget.

Marketing is about sharing stories; stories that will ultimately convince people to buy your product or service. What sharing stories also does is to help expand your NETWORK.

Entrepreneur Dan Lok said that he will rather spend time with people he has a common future with than people he has a common past with.

The more valuable your network is, the more your chances of escaping poverty and achieving financial freedom.

We probably have been talking about a lot of ideas and “soft stuff” but what makes them all work is EXECUTION.

A renowned NASA scientist said that “one test is worth ten thousand expert opinions”. Execution eats ideation and planning up for dinner. Execution is where the juice is.

There are thousands of other words – codified principles – that their understanding and correct application will help you attain financial freedom.

Imbibe these words and see as they revolutionize your money life.

service2wealth

The Service-Wealth Proportion as a Principle for making Money.

by with No Comment General ArticleMoney Secrets
5 min read

I am sure you would like to know the odds of if you’d end up wealthy or if… you know, end up otherwise, who wouldn’t like to know? There are several combinations of ways to know but the most objective and visible way to know is the service-wealth proportion and it is a proven principle for making money.

The ultimate goal for most people is to be financially free – to continually make more money, to live a desired and comfortable life. No one can deny the sense of fulfilment and deep satisfaction derived when bills get paid without anxiety, agitation or pressure from the service providers or creditors. 

Having money sounds good, but making enough of it is a hurdle for a lot of people. 

Make no mistake, wealth creation is not as easy as ABC but it is definitely not rocket science.

The problem most people have in their quest of becoming wealthy is their foundation—parents and school value proposition that has constituted their fundamental belief about wealth. 

Parents invest money to train their children in schools but the schools only teach the functions of money and hardly “How to make money”, so the best they become are employees—salary dependent.

When you look at the billionaires, you become curious about how they made it and keep multiplying their money. 

There is no special secret under the sun. Most of the millionaires and billionaires that you know (or not) followed principles, principles that became their foundation in accumulating great wealth over the years. 

There are a number of “money laws”, but my focus will be on the law of service in this write-up.

Where money is concerned, service is a system set up to meet the specific needs of people over a period of time with the goal of making profit in the end. For instance, car hire is a service set up to solve the problem of people who need mobility but don’t have a car or can’t use their car at that moment. This service runs for a period of time, yet the goal is to make profit in the end. 

Any service you render that only benefits the receiver is called “Charity”.

When your service solves people’s problem, it will increase your income level (it does not necessarily solve your expenditure problem – see how to do that here – Solving the problem of recurrent expenses and giant expenditures).

Every billionaire (excluding inherited wealth) renders some sort of service or sell product(s), and these services make them rich(er) and grow their net worth yearly.

No wealthy person accumulates wealth without solving specific needs in society, they are known with a specific product/service that benefits people. Services can be tangible or intangible as is the case with Microsoft or Google.

In Nigeria for example, the following billionaires are household names with their services:

  1. Aliko Dangote  –          Sugar, flour, cement.
  2. Mike Adenuga  –         Telecommunication, petroleum
  3. Folorunsho Alakija –  Fashion industry, oil.
  4. Femi Otedola  –    Petroleum.

The services they render are known, reaches and benefit a lot of people and enrich their lives. Notice that these services are still relevant. 

As long as your service(s) make lives better, you will make (more) money from it. Therefore, when you fail to create a sustainable system that offers quality and functional service, you may have failed at your chance of becoming wealthy. 

Service is proportional to wealth creation. The more people you serve, the more money you are likely to make.

To put it into perspective, a tailor who sews clothes by himself will serve a limited number of clients, because he is limited first in his mind and consequently by the system he uses to deliver service; in contrast with another tailor who employs hands to sow and supervises, yet their income will pale when compared with an entrepreneur who builds a website/app that links tailors to “anyone” who needs such services (an on-demand model similar to Uber or Taxify). You get the point! 

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SERVICE

Your net worth is directly proportional to the service that you provide, how valuable the service is and more importantly how many people use your service(s). 

Imagine a world without Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, Fiverr and others. You can relate with Facebook connecting several hundreds, thousands, millions and billions of people. These social media platform made it easy for you to reach anywhere in the world right from where you are. 

Mark Zuckerberg became a billionaire (he became the world’s youngest self-made billionaire in 2007, at age 23,) by solving a specific need and optimizing the services provided per time. Facebook has over 2.6 billion active users in the first quarter of 2020 according to an article published by J. Clement in April 2020.

Imagine the number of homes using Dangote’s products in Nigeria – cooking oil, salt, sugar, pasta, cement and flour. With an estimated population of over two hundred (200) million, if about a hundred (100) million people in Nigeria use his products daily – it is not hard to imagine the outcome.

To make money to the point where you are financially free is difficult without providing service on a large scale – reaching a lot of people. A system that delivers value consistently and constantly will increase your income and consequently make you wealthy. 

THE SECRET TO EFFECTIVE SERVICE

Billionaire secrets are hardly secrets, they are only principles to which they have constantly devoted themselves, this is why they are ahead of others and these secrets are the foundation upon which their beliefs concerning wealth creation stand.

The following are the principles for effective service to multiply your income:

1.  The law of need

Jack Ma was at a point in his life, a young Chinese man who had never come across the internet. After a series of failures in his life, he studied the opportunity of creating E-commerce for the local market in China. He was able to persuade seventeen (17) other people to start the Alibaba that we know today. Alibaba became the channel for local marketer’s to access China products all over the world.

The service that will generate money must identify specific needs or gaps to be filled.  Jack Ma and Jeff Bezos (founder of Amazon) built a service delivery system riding the wave of internet and created a whole new way of shopping that doesn’t need you to move physically.

    2. The law of control

You must be in charge of the system or be able to control the service to deliver promised value consistently. Jeff Bezos started by making books accessible online; more like an online library, and after serving several thousands of people at the early stage, he built the system to include all categories of merchandise and goods. As Amazon grew, the system enlarged to take charge of other retailers and became a huge system with sub-systems of value. 

When you lose control over your service, you lose your money.

Finally, the meaningful and value-full service that you render to people will greatly multiply your income. Ensure that your service is adding value to their lives continuously and in the end, you will have more money in your pocket.

5waysmoneyhide

5 Ways Money Hides From You and Why You Are Probably Still Poor

by with No Comment General ArticleMoney Secrets
4 min read
U.s. Dollar Banknote Lot

Money is everywhere, I am sure if you set your eyes on some, you are definitely grabbing them. You did grab all the ones you found, right? The challenge here is all those ones that have been hiding from you. Maybe we can show you a few money hideouts. You could just kit up and call for back up and go bust them there.

Everyone knows that money is a necessity, but as funny as this may sound, some disagree, and it’s the poor that may disagree. why? Because it serves as ease and consolation to them for their lack of money.

We also know beyond a reasonable doubt, that we need money. Take a deep breath, relax and let’s go on a journey to demystify wealth.

 Now, what’s money? 

Do you think money is that paper in your pocket? No! 

You are not shocked, are you? 

Money is Value!

According to Investopedia, Money is a medium of exchange; it allows people to obtain what they need to live. 

The subtle difference between the poor and the rich is their differing perspectives about money.

Poor people believe that ‘paper’ is money and the wealthy believe that ‘value’ is money, and this subtle difference has created a wide margin between the rich and the poor over the years. Anyone can be wealthy, but it’s dependent on how much you value and are willing to get a financial education.

I want to show you five (5) reasons why it seems as though money hides from you!

 

  1. “Relationship”.

A relationship is a form of currency (apart from the paper that we all know) and until we understand that within our relationships lie the ability to pay some bills, we may be unwilling to invest more in our relationships. 

 

By investing more in our relationships, I mean making a conscious effort to build relationships, trying as much as possible to bring something useful (resourceful) to the table. Be willing to give more than you get in value.

 

A wise man once said ‘If you buy everything with your money, you’re still poor’.

 

Invest in relationships, because you don’t know what it will yield tomorrow! A good example of this relationship is that of Bill Gates and Paul Allen.

 

  1.   “Goodwill”.

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines goodwill as a feeling of approval and support (that people have towards you), this means that people love to work with you. 

You have a sense of approval from people and this makes them always want to have something to do with you; it is also similar to having good relationships but this is not limited to the people you know and this can be gotten through integrity. 

Integrity is defined as having a strong moral principle. Integrity gives you credibility and people will relate with you on that basis.

Once people have the assurance that you are credible, they will start lending a helping hand to you. If you’re in business, they want to patronize you.

 

Develop integrity today and watch wealth get attracted to you!

 

 

  1. “Branding”.

Branding is a promise to your customer, it tells them what they should expect from your products and services (John Williams, 2020). Branding is what makes you stand out among competitors. 

It singles you out of the crowd, and what this does is that it attracts people to you (I will always patronize what I know about!). 

Do you have a brand? 

If I type your name on google, what pops up?

When you see Hewlett and Packard – Laptops come to mind.

When you see Microsoft – Windows comes to mind. 

When I see you – whatever comes to my mind is your brand. 

Decide to be intentional about changing and building your brand; that is what you represent to people.

 

  1. “Imagination”.

Imagination is really powerful, folks.

Every other thing on earth may be limited, but imagination is not one of them, it offers you the opportunity to explore dimensions unseen and businesses people have never heard of and guess what? You’re not charged a dime for imagining. 

 

We all imagine, but not all of us are productive with our imagination, and you can be productive with yours. Imagination becomes productive when we become intentional about our imagination, and the more we are intentional, the more our mindset begins to align with our imagination. 

 

So what do you do? Imagine creating value for people around the world (remember we said money is Value), imagine being of Service to people, imagine solving a world problem and the result is that your brain is enhanced to do these things and you’ll see wealth flow in your direction.

 

In the Movie Series Marco Polo, The Emperor Kublai Khan had a blind monk train the young clueless Marco Polo in the art of Kung Fu, during his first lesson Marco Polo learns that Kung Fu simply means attaining Mastery through hard work.

So you could say Jack Ma of Alibaba has attained Mastery.

  1. “Hard work”

The last point which validates all of the other points above is “hard work”. There are no two ways about it.

A lazy man breeds poverty for himself!

In the book “The Millionaire Next Door” Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko shared research that shows that wealthy men in America work about forty-five to fifty-five hours per week, that is what it means when they say ‘putting in the hours’!

 Hard work includes persistence, and persistence brings about excellence, and that’s what distinguishes you. Once the world interprets that you value and sell excellence, everyone will want to do business with you, on the flip side, once the world perceives you as mediocre; it is a matter of time before you are out of business,

 It is safe to say that Money hides behind Kung Fu (Mastery)!

Wealth creation is not an impossible thing, it’s just there, all the money there is, hiding in plain sight.

Go get yours!

Davido&Wizkid

5 Money Lessons You Missed In The Wizkid-Davido Supremacy Battle

by with No Comment General ArticleMoney Shakers
5 min read
Davido Narrates Why He Said Wizkid And Him, Are The 2 Greatest Nigerian Artistes Of All Time - Daily Focus Nigeria

Artistes will always emerge as stars on our music skyline and as you already know some stars shine brighter than others. You can look at two stars and wonder who shines brighter, and we can all get all giddied up fighting for the star we love and probably forget that there are vital money lessons that this war can teach us, especially if we want to make a lot of money.

Everything is a gift and everything can be a curse, depending on how you see it (we have an article on how to know gifts). The most successful set of human beings are the ones who realize their gifts early in life, it is not too late for you see all the beautiful gifts already bestowed on you. And so Davido and Wizkid may as well be some dual gift bundle for you.

Visibility

Wizkid & Davido, Are You Guys Sick? Don't Turn Hip Hop To Fuji - Concern Fans Writes Open Letter » Naijaloaded

In the Nigerian music scene, the biggest most obvious way to determine the newest largest kid on the block is to watch out for who is voted for in the Headies Next Rated artists. So, in 2012, Davido won the Next Rated Award while Wizkid came in 2011, exactly a year ahead.

And not for one did they leave our screen anymore. People miss a lot of things in life because of fear. If you are afraid, please read our award-winning article Money fears and how to overcome them. No one (not even Wizkid and Davido) can say exactly how their feud started or which of them started it. But we all certainly know that both are Feudal Lords.

I am sure you can see that both have a lot of things in common. One of which is their fearlessness. Both thought they could take on the world and that’s exactly what they did.

Facebook rose to Hundreds of Billions of Dollars in worth because they took the visibility game one hundred stories above everyone else. You registered your Facebook because you wanted to be seen, and now you promote your stuff on Facebook because you want more people to see your wares… But nothing beats organic unaware virality or happenings.

Let me give you a scenario. You saw two friends holding hands and walking-by on your street today, and then you saw them again another day. Chances are that they may only have picked your interest on the first day only, and that’s it.

But imagine that there were two particular 12-year-old kids on your street who live maybe 8 houses apart, and three days ago you saw them fighting and throwing punches at each other. Wow! imagine how much attention you gave to the fight no matter how short-lived it was as people went to separate them.

Just yesterday, the two kids met at the estate’s grocery shop and started fighting again. Guess what happened. Now, you are even more interested than you were two days ago when you thought it was just random. Since yesterday, you had begun to think ‘looks like there is more to this matter than I know’ and you started to wonder.

Again, imagine. The next day, you saw one of the kids walking towards you and when you looked back you saw the other kid walking towards the other boy. Of course, you are going to wait a bit and see if they would throw punches at themselves again.

Guess what has happened. Both boys have become the most visible 12-year-olds in your estate. Are you still wondering why Wizkid and Davido have one of the largest social media following of all African Artists? In our IMBP course, we teach people how to create a brand that never goes broke for themself. Visibility is a whole module in the IMBP course and you can register for the course here. You can see how to up your own visibility game without creating unnecessary bad blood around you and get it working magic for you and for your business.

Motivation

It is very heartbreaking that people underestimate the importance of motivation, you really should know how motivation is everything. The grind is real. To wake up every day and face circumstances not preempted, to follow up with difficult leads, to overcome disappointments after disappointments…, takes a lot of motivation.

One thing rivals never always lack is motivation. They, without knowing it, push each other to do more than their average counterparts. This compounds (how little things grow into massive results overtime) for them in ways that no one can quantify or imagine.

It is in human nature to settle. Even Timaya feels like doing more was suicidal. A competitor whether real or imagined allows you to rise above the bait to rest your oars and settle. And as they say, “success is your greatest enemy”.

Emotional Marketing (defence and loyalty, cult following, viral marketing)

Wizkid and Davido Net Worth: Who Is the Richest in 2020? ▷ Legit.ng

Humans, we like to pretend that we are logical and that decisions are objective and thought through, but nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, we are emotional beings and that is all that we will continue to be.

I prefer Pepsi Cola to Coke. The fact is there is no scientific base for which of them tastes better. I just didn’t like the fact that Coke always wanted to sell to me for a little bit higher. I felt Coke was too proud and I wasn’t having any of that. So I would rather buy Pepsi anytime I felt stupid and thirsty enough for a bottle of sugar, water, caramel, colour and CO2. I am sure you also have your biases.

For Davido and Wizkid, the rife between them has further pushed their fans to deeper loyalty and dedication. This is why both their shows will continue to sell out and their youtube videos will continue to enjoy millions of views. When you start to build your personal or business brand, it may actually be a wonderful thing should people start to consistently compare you to a person or business doing as good as you are or even better.

Planning and Strategy

Planning and Strategy takes a lot of research and feedback. As a business person, you’d really want to know how people see or interact with your brand. What you are doing that they like. What you are not doing that they wished you were doing and what you are doing that they do not like.

Companies spend millions just to get this load of information because it is vital to the growth of their brand. Wizkid and Davido fans provide these to their idols daily. As your brand grows, one of the ways to get off the ground fast is to have loyal clients or customers who know why they specifically chose you and are motivated (just by being able to spite other brands) to tell you.

Elongated Relevance

The game of relevance feeds on memories. Now, therein lies the great problem. The FastCompany on their website explains that each individual now generates about five times the same amount of data (information) an individual generated in 1986. Also, it would interest you to know that Forbes reported that over 90% of all available world data was generated within the last two years.

It gets crazier when you consider that an adult makes an average 35000 decisions daily. That’s too many daily decisions already, it is too difficult to add the decision to remember one extra company or brand. But for brands who have rival brands, their relevance game comes at the best of levels.

One Nigerian industry that has newcomers every day is the betting industry but NairaBet and BetNaija have managed to stay relevant because people always compare them to each other.

The essence of these lessons is to realize that adversity (business or person) can be, at particular times, the best thing that could ever happen to you.

Rubles in wallet on white table. Making money

Three No Bullshit Reasons You Suck At Making Money

by with No Comment General ArticleMoney Secrets
5 min read
Rubles in wallet on white table. Making money

You know I like to dive straight into the matter. No need for fancy words, let’s just have it bare on the table. Will the table break? I cannot say for sure. And you are most likely on this table. So here are the three no bullshit reasons you suck at making money.

You don’t know that you don’t know anything

This is the thing and I am sure you pretty much feel as though I just insulted you. Well, I don’t know what you should take it as (insult, wake-up call, encouragement), just take it as whatever will spur you into taking action. I mean, what is the point of reading this if you are still going to be the way you were before reading this.

Some times, the best way to describe this scenario is what it is like to be in a dream that is so real, that the only time you are ever going to realize that it was a dream is when you wake up. Until you wake up, you are going to continue to think the dream was real life. I call this the curse of the 80%, to understand more about what I mean here, read the upper 20% Principle.

Since not knowing that you don’t know anything is like a terrible sleep, there are about 3 common ways people wake up. The first of these ways is time. Time, as I put here, is a complex sum but I am going to make it simple.

When people sleep, they most likely wake up because sun rays beam on their faces and wake them up (a function of the time of the day) or the alarm they set goes off with a damning noise (still a function of time) and the last function of time is how long the person has been sleeping.

Sometimes the natural body clock takes effect. Some people will naturally wake up after they have slept for 6 hours or a little bit more.

So back to where I was, to put this wake-up time into the appropriate concept of this article, some people wake up only after they retire from their paid employment. (slow down, there is nothing wrong about being an employee, in fact, a lot of times they prove to be the best gift of people’s lives).

So most people wake up after sleeping through all of their primes. Now, they are in the real world, the pension paycheck is barely enough, they realize that all the while they didn’t know anything and didn’t know so.

Some people are lucky they use alarms that they have set by themselves. “If at forty I am yet to travel to at least 10 countries and own enough real estate and drive at least one dream car, I’d need to wake up“. Rather than sleep till daybreak, they wake up at dawn because now, they are forty and they are still struggling with paying their children’s school fees.

Hence, it occurs to them, I have been sleeping. The last function of time I’d explain here is how long people have been sleeping, people usually wake up in their late forties to their early fifties, that’s what we call the midlife crisis.

Having explained the concept of time as to how people eventually wake up from not knowing that they didn’t know anything, the other awakening concept is a rude interruption. You are sleeping and then an earthquake happens! LOL, don’t mind me, I was only being dramatic. But I am sure you get the point.

There is a popular saying on Twitter Ng, about how the supposed Nigerian Middle Class are only one health disaster away from abject poverty. Most people wake up after working for five or ten years and are unable to foot the bill of travelling and paying for a major surgical procedure.

The first two ways of waking up are not desirable and I do not advise that anyone put himself in such a precarious situation. The third way a person can be awake is to be woken up by someone who is and was already awake. This is what great minds do for others. This is what this post wants to do for you. This is what reading books from great minds do for you. They wake you up!

You don’t know anything

So waking up is good, but it is really just the first step. You are still broke because you don’t know anything, there is a simple question that I want to ask you because now you are awake and all of that. Is there any subject whatsoever in this life relevant to a lot of people or not, that you can speak about for straight three hours in an orderly and articulated manner?

Well, I know you think I am wicked, please I am not, I am only passionate about getting you to be on your undeniable way to huge financial success. Take a quick mind run to every one of the successful people you know, I am sure in your mind’s eye you can conveniently see two or more subjects each of them can speak on articulately for three hours.

This is not a public speaking training ground or anything like it. I just need you to realise that, there is general knowledge which can be manipulated to suit the agenda of few and then there is specified knowledge. The knowledge of a subject that few people are aware of or the deeper knowledge of a subject that a lot of people think they know a lot about. Reviewing how long you can speak on a subject if given all the time helps you just how much you know about a thing.

It is simply what it is, everyone knows that the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening, and that’s the exact number of people who have never made a single dime from that knowledge, everyone! But if you knew practical ways of getting a state out of debt and can prove it, it is only a matter of time before you make a fortune from such knowledge no matter how you came across the knowledge.

Knowing is a direct function of learning, there are other ways to know if you know a thing, we created a spectrum of wealth based on the different levels of knowledge we even highlighted how you can move up the levels. The second reason you are poor is that you don’t know anything, you may think you are better than the ones who don’t know that they don’t know, but I am not sure about that, because there was a reason the saying that “ignorance is bliss”.

You are not doing anything about it

You may have progressed, but then this is never the place where you want to be. Unfortunately, it is very difficult -almost impossible- to, from this point, go back to the ‘sleep’. The unfulfilled desire here alone can kill you, you have to get up and act, you will need to start and see things through.

If this article is your first visit to us, please go see what life is at the beginning and if it isn’t your first visit and yet it still looks as though I am speaking gibberish; you should go see this plan about what to start doing with your finances to get you out of poverty into wealth.

This is the craziest most beautiful things about life. That things beginning to happen once you start to act. I know it and I am super sure of this truth and I can bet my entire life legacy, generations and dynasty on it.

Sometimes you don’t see the physical changes immediately, but they are there. A trained eye can see them. We thought you might need those so we wrote you a whole guide of how to see the money progress you are making. I am sure you already know by now that as far as a rich life and money-making are concerned we gat you on ngmoneyseries.com and we are always going to be there for you.

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